Short Hair Act
First they take our weapons, then our hair. What next, our land?!Modern hair style for ladies, especially for ladies of hand standing, tends to have one thing in common no matter where you go. Hair, lots of voluminous hair put together in some elaborate way. Even a peasant girl would seldom be caught in a disheveled state, let alone bald. There is one very notable exception to this, however. On Camur Island, it is very rare to see anyone with hair so much as reaching their shoulders. No big puffy hairstyles either. Why so? Turns out, they used to have a Short Hair Act in the past that explicitly prohibited such behaviour.
Purpose
A century ago, noble ladies of Camur Island were renowned for their voluminous hair. They were also renowned for a common habit of having small knifes and metal pins in the aforementioned hair, often hidden completely within the hair. After a number of high-profile stabbings and unable to search a lady's hair without causing a great offence, the governor at a time resolved to drastic measures of outright banning the source of problem.
Under the Short Hair Act, only the hair with maximum length of 20 centimeters was allowed. If someone was seen with longer hair and got reported to the authorities - they were in big trouble. No matter how rich or important, how long and noble the bloodline. The only exceptions were made for travellers and merchants, who need not adhere to the law as long as their stay did not exceed several weeks.
Historical Details
Legacy
Although the Act was rescinded a few decades ago, the effect it had on the local customs has remained. To this day, it is exceedingly rare to see a local on Camur Island with hair longer than what the Act used to allow for. The person who dares to break the custom is often treated with suspicion and distrust, kept at a distance and seldom invited to the social events.
A big part of this attitude, in my opinion, comes from the clause in the act excluding foreigners from its rules. So if you choose to have long hair... In effect, you declare yourself to be an outsider rather than a part of the local community. And no community would look favourably upon such a statement.
With a good stylist, people would not be able to tell where your hair ends and where your beard begins.The Act only really applied to head hair, while men were allowed to have their beards as long as they wanted. The decision was often viewed as discriminatory, leading to the governor's assurances that women are not legally prohibited from having long beards either. When a group of men used their beards to smuggle knives into a ballroom, the controversy caused some of the ladies to start growing out beard hair in protest. To this day, it remains an odd but generally acceptable style for women.
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